He swallowedthe crystal and almost immediately knew how to change into a Rockelemental. So they changed. They looked like a large rocky masshewn very roughly into a Newman shape. Aquitain tried walking andhis huge rocky leg stepped forward and thumped down causing a shockthat reverberated throughout the tunnel. There was a flash of lightnear them, they wondered what had happened and lost theirconcentration then poof they were a cloud of mist again.
‘I thought so.’ said Ignatius. ‘If you have a lapse ofconcentration like that underground, I hate to think what willhappen. You better split minds like I suggested before.’
‘Er ... that’s something I’m not too good at. Last time I didit. The two minds argued and almost got into a fight with eachother.’
‘Ha ha.’ said Ignatius. ‘It happens every time. You see bothhalves of your minds are not the same; they have individualstrengths and weaknesses. Once you realize this you can approach amind split a little more carefully. I usually have one that handlesthe action and one the thinking.’
‘I don’t know whether you’ve ever seen one of those giantlizards on Mudrun. I’m told they have two brains one for thinkingand one for controlling their legs. I don’t know whether it’s trueor not but it makes sense. If it’s good enough for the animals, Isay it’s good enough for me.’
’Another good idea is to agree on a name for each half as ifyou have a friend with you.’
‘That’s a good idea.’ said Aquitain suddenly gettingsuspicious that this fellow was just a little too friendly but toocurious to do anything about it. Okay let’s give it a go he thoughtand split his mind into two.
Aquitain1 spokefirst. ‘Hello. We meet again. We’ve had a chance to think aboutbeing separate again and this time I hope that we can do a betterjob.’
‘So do I’ replied Aquitain 2.
‘I have a suggestion for names for us.’ said Aquitain 1. ‘Howabout Qin and Qan these were the two heads of the mythical Quooka.One could breathe fire and the other cold. If you fought it you hadto know which head was which so that you could shield against theappropriate attack.’
‘That sounds good to me said Aquitain 2. Which would you liketo be?’
‘I’ll be Qin the fire head and you be Qan the ice head.’replied Aquitain 1.
‘Would you like to be the driver or the one that holds ustogether?’
‘I have no preference replied Qin. You Choose.’
‘That’s very kind of you. Okay, you be the driver move usaround and do any talking I will be the body and keep us togetherand put up defences if necessary.’ replied Qan.
‘That sounds good. I agree said Qin. So let’s get movingQan.’
Chapter 32 ElementalOasis
‘Let’s get going.’said Ignatius ‘I doubt whether you’ve ever experienced anythinglike being a Rock elemental.’ and he started walking down towardsthe Moonmist gate.
As Qin guidedhis Newman shaped body down towards the gateway he noticed a purplecairn-like structure in the middle of the tunnel close to the gatethat wasn’t there when he originally came into the tunnel.
‘What’s that purple cairn for?’
‘What are you talking about? queried Ignatius.
This surprisedQin, so he projected a mental image of the object to Ignatius.
Ignatiusstopped for a moment then said.
‘That looks like a direction marker for the spirits. When asentient creature dies its spirit crosses to the spirit world. Webelieve that these types of markers are used to guide the spiritsto their ultimate destination. All the worlds have them except forMoonmist. They’re usually just under the surface of the land andprogress deeper down.’
‘So the spirits of the dead are directed downwards.’ saidQin.
‘Yes.’ replied Ignatius. ‘Think about it from an engineeringpoint of view, creatures live around the outside of a sphericalshaped world. If you directed spirits upwards they would disappearinto the infinite sky in all directions. It would be very hard tokeep track of them. However, if you direct them downwards theywould all neatly converge at the centre of the world where theycould be processed. Which is more likely?’
‘I suppose you’re right. So this marker must be to directanyone that dies on Astaria to a collection point. I wonder wherethe collection point is?’
They continueddown the tunnel until they reached the gate and Qin opened it. Thegate was unusually clear almost as if it was made of glass. On theother side of the gateway was a bubble shaped area with a spiritmarker cairn set in the middle. What shocked him was that he couldclearly see red hot larva down there.
‘Looks great doesn’t it? said Ignatius. ‘The gate at that endis set inside a permanent force bubble. About two thirds of thebubble is set in solid rock and the rest is in the lavaflow.’
‘But how can a gateway open into a force sphere?’ asked theQin.
‘I’ve always understood that they couldn’t be breached bymagic.’
‘Ha. You forget the Mentarin are experimenters. Every fullmember must be an Archwizard or Archmindwizard. Our understandingof magic technology far exceeds the normal. Force walls and spheresare made of thin layers of vibrating energy. If you can match thevibration rate and your body type is elemental then you can passthrough.’
‘So elementals can pass freely through the force bubblewalls.’ said Qin.
‘Yes and No.’ said Ignatius. ‘Rock elementals use an aura ofphasing energy that sort of liquefies the rock around them allowingthem to move as if they were in water. If they were smart enoughthey could probably get through but generally they’re not, which israther fortunate, as they’re not all that friendly.
They created amindlink and then Ignatius advised Aquitain to change to a smallRock elemental body and adjust the phasing frequency to match hisand he passed through the gateway to the force bubble set deep inthe strata under the volcano. Qan, formed the body made the changesand Qin, the driver advised Astaria that he wouldn’t be gone longand followed.
The sight wassimply awe-inspiring. They were in a cool, air filled bubble setinto dark brown igneous rock. Flowing like water over part of thesurface of the bubble was liquid lava varying in colour from brightorange to dull brown but no heat
